Rules and regulations

It is worth remembering that the current COVID restrictions fall under public health legislation and not public order. Getting the Police to enforce public health is not the right way to go about things.

But then neither is passing SIs instead of scrutinised laws through Parliament.

The Government could, and should, use the Civil Continencies Act for such measures, which would allow scrutiny.

But doesn't. And we are ten months into this "unexpected" emergency.

Also, there is laws and guidance.

Police enforce the laws.

People should obey the guidance. And for people to obey or follow guidance, they have to understand and think it is fair and proportional, and that it applies to everyone.

So, the Cummings incident last year, undermined the trust that such guidance was for everyone. And the defence of Cummings was that it was what a good parent would do means a ready made excuse for all to break the rules as we all want to be good parents/partners etc.

And there is the fact that legislation is now so complex that outside of those who write it, there is probably just one person in England who has the overview of what is legal or allowed and what isn’t.

Laws should be simple.

The last set of lockdown SIs were 12,000 words each, I suspect the current ones are little different. And full of legalese. Complex and dense.

And yet without adequate track and trace, the only option is for ever harder lockdowns, as all else is failing, especially in the face of the new mutation of the virus.

What is clear is that the Government did not understand the longterm effects of some of its policies. Like the eat out to help out or returning children and students to their places of learning.

The eat out to help out was designed to help the hospitality industry recover, by paying the first £10 more meals eaten out, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday through August. I saw the effect when in Southampton, as every place to eat was rammed. Many were socially distanced, but some were not. It was from that the start of the second wave can be traced to, and although it put money into the industry, the consequence was that the industry has been pretty much closed down since the beginning of November, costing far more to the owners and economy in the process.

In education, teachers are 300% more likely to catch COVID.

But like taxes, laws and guidance are for the little people. Know your place, plebs.